Saturday, June 30, 2012

I just got back to my dorm room --- it was a great evening with an even greater lecture by Pat Sloan tonight – It’s so wonderful to be able to sit and listen to someone else and relax and enjoy! If you get a chance to listen to Pat speak – do NOT miss it!

The woman is hysterical, and I learned things about her that I didn’t know. And on top of everything else I am really blessed to call her my friend.

I am SO far behind in so many things, but all I want to do tonight is curl up and read.

I’ve got tea water heating ---and I just followed my search of freebies to one that sounds good enough to download and try for me --

When Beth LaMonte rents a cottage on the coast of Maine, she wishes only to withdraw and paint.

A mysterious ball of light disturbs her peace and leads her to a secret beach where she finds the diary of a girl who disappeared in 1975. Now Beth is on a mission, not only to bury her own past, but to put to rest the spirit of Firefly Beach.

It had a very short description that didn’t tell me much so I kept reading down the reviews:

Review

"The various minor storylines infuse the main plot with a great flavor. The end of the book neatly ties all the loose ends up and makes for an extremely satisfying read." - Reviewed by Laura, You Gotta Read Reviews

"Firefly Beach sneaks up on you subtly, inexorably drawing you in. Before you realize it, you've read the whole book." - Reviewed by IvyD, Manic Readers

"I was on the edge of my seat every time Beth got one step closer to solving the mystery. I would encourage you to put this book high on your list." - Reviewed by Kimberly, Coffee Time Romance

So there you have it --- download it while it’s still free and double check before clicking to make sure that it still is for you because prices can change without notice.

Tomorrow is my last workshop at the Vermont Quilt Festival – it’s been a great time, and I can’t wait to be back in 2015!

And I’m always open to suggestions on how I can do a better job, or what would have helped students more.

I will never be the one to think that I know it all --- but I admit, in my desire to give students options to choose from, sometimes it makes it harder for them TO choose---

Smith Mountain Morning is a very involved class. It’s specialty-ruler-heavy ---Easy Angle, Companion Angle, Tri-Recs --- and the way the pattern is written in the book, you find out in one paragraph on the first page that I used these rulers and 3 1/2” strips and 2” strips to do the units in the quilt. But the book also gives “regular” rotary cutting directions for those who don’t have access to these rulers.

The class supply list doesn’t say to cut out the whole quilt ahead of time –and I have edited the supply list to say that there is SOME cutting that can be done ahead of time for those who want to cut --- they can come with 3 1/2” strips of blue and brown and neutral, and some 2” strips of blue and brown ---but that this is a 6 hour class, and that should be enough to get them started and keep them busy for a while. They can bring fat quarters and other yardage to cut into as time allows.

My biggest fear is that someone will spend hours cutting their valuable fabric ---only to find that if they had waited for the demo they would have done it better, done it differently if they had seen the demo first.

And there-in lies my quandary. How much cutting is enough? How do I give folks options without it being too much information?

Do I put a warning on the class supply list --- Do not cut triangles first unless you have experience using these? I don’t want someone cutting with the stitching line as their cutting line as has happened in the past and have all of their triangles too small.

I don’t want someone cutting all the regular rotary cut measurements – piles of 3-7/8” squares --- only to find that if they had waited, and tried the ruler method that they could have used 3 1/2” strips and been happier with the technique and the results.

How can I be a better teacher allowing people to think things through for themselves and choose the best option that works for them? This is something I worry about all the time.

There are evaluation sheets given to the students, filled out at the end of class in triplicate, and I receive my copy of each evaluation at the end of class. Of course, they are anonymous – and they can all be wonderful and praiseworthy and make me feel really good until I get to the ONE that says “Should have had better pre-cutting directions”.

But there are reasons why I didn’t?

So this is a thoughtful post this morning ----I realize that I have a long way to go to being the confident teacher that I would love to be ---

But at the same time I do believe I gave it my all – and we had a wonderful time and the quilts that are coming out of this class are going to be so great!

Friday, June 29, 2012

I was so excited to meet up with Lori at the awards ceremony part of opening night!

The place was packed with quilters, and as always, I love people watching and seeing what quilters wear when they turn out in droves --- I saw terrific outfits, comfortable quilter’s footwear ((We all know that fashion stops below the knees!)) and the wildest array of handcrafted handbags in one location than I have ever seen in my life!

I sat right down the row from my buddy Pat Sloan and her hubby, Greg –aka. “The Shipping Department”. Unbeknownst to me ---she was photographing us and tagging us on facebook ---HA!

So fun to reconnect with other teachers – some I’ve met and talked with before. David Taylor and I have shared many a venue in the past couple of years, so when I was exiting the dorm as he was entering, we exchanged a few words – it’s great to see him again, I enjoy his sense of humor so much!

Yesterday I grabbed a quicky lunch ---the first class was over at 11:30 – lunch was from 11:30 to 12:30 –but people were still hauling their stuff OUT of the room at 11:40 – and the people from the afternoon session were wanting to come in and set up the machines ----wait a minute! I need to get lunch in here somewhere --- so I think I got all in all about 20 minutes to wolf down my soup and salad at a little outdoor table while visiting with Pat, Sue Spargo, and Susan Brubaker Knapp who lives just down the road from me in Mooresville, NC ---the same town where I adopted Ken the Kenmore! Small world, isn’t it?

The most funny of all --- I walk in last night to find Lori – and we take ONE look at each other and bust out laughing – we are dressed so much the same! White capris, black/white sleeveless blouse….it’s hysterical.

We ask her friend to take a picture of the both of us…

And then we ask her to take it again because she has chopped our heads off…LOL!

And yes, you can tell I have not been out in the sun at ALL this year – pasty white folks! But it was so good to hug my friend, walk around the show, oooh and ahhh at Gerald Roy’s collection of antique quilts ((no photography allowed…boooohooooo!!)) and enjoy the evening!

Pineapple Crazy is hanging in the teacher’s exhibit! ((Right next to one of Sue Spargo’s beauties…I am so pumped!))

And since I was never able before to send close up detail…here is a shot at the upper left corner.

One of the “circles” where the blocks join together---my favorite thing about this quilt? ALL of the odd fabrics thrown together into this mess of scrappiness. So many cut off bonus triangles that have been gifted to me over the past several years have all found a place in this quilt..

My other happy moment?

The Dover Bookseller’s booth has my first three books on display front and center in their booth! But I have one up on them – I’ve got the 4th book in my classroom on campus and it is selling like hotcakes and I am so excited.

Tomorrow? MYSTERY DAY!! Which means ---there probably won’t be a lot of detailed class photos for that one because --- well --- it’s a mystery! But never fear, the mystery quilt I’ve been teaching as a class since January will appear in Quiltmaker Magazine in the fall –as a NON Mystery.

I want you to hum along with me to the tune of the theme song from Gilligan’s Island:

“A Three Hour Class!! A Three Hour Class!!”

Just how much can one get done in “A THREE HOUR CLASS?!” ((A Three Hour Class!!))

Amazingly, quite a bit!

Boxy Stars is one of those that goes together so quickly and looks so different depending on what fabrics and values you have chosen to go where. I loved it done in 30s fabrics, I loved seeing the batik variations, and the one that was Christmas themed…and the ones that were joint projects with the blocks being destined for Quilts of Valor ---

Some only got one block done, but many parts well on the way for more --- some got two or three blocks done, and all will be fabulous!

Take a look at what we got up too in our “THREE HOUR CLASS!! our THREE HOUR CLASS!”